As a title for a book, Jesus of Arabia might seem dangerously close to a provocation in a region where for more than 14 centuries, Islam rather than Christianity has prevailed.
In fact, says the author, Reverend Andrew Thompson, his new book was originally to be called the Gospel of the Gulf — the Khaleeji Gospel: “But this was felt to be too ambiguous.”
The eventual title was picked by a local sheikh. “It was the one he liked best. It really caught his eye.”
The subtitle of the book is: “Understanding the teachings of Christ through the culture of the Arabian Gulf.” Perhaps, though, it is misunderstandings between Christianity and Islam that more concern the Rev Thompson, the chaplain at St Andrew’s, Abu Dhabi’s Anglican church.
“Jesus of Arabia?” says Mr Thompson. “For me as an Englishman, I automatically think of Lawrence of Arabia, the romanticism of the desert. But also, it is a reminder as an Englishman that this is Jesus’ part of the world.
“As westerners, we created Jesus in our own image, but the historical Jesus was a child of the Middle East and we need to go back to the historical Jesus to have a deeper and more profound understanding of who he was and how his teachings were understood and achieved at that time.”
What this means, says Mr Thompson, is that Jesus — “a Palestinian Jew” — was living and teaching in a culture that would still be familiar across Arabia today. His book takes what he calls “four distinctive markets of Arab culture in the Gulf”, including family, faith, language and the role of women. “All these things are very similar to the culture that Jesus grew up in 2,000 years ago.”
“The cultural context was similar, with strong emphasis on family,” he explains. “It was tribal, we had that mix of the Bedouin and the settled. We had the very strong oral tradition – people learnt and were educated by memorising poetry – and when you try to relate Jesus’ teaching back into the Aramaic, the language in which he taught, you see the genius of the poet at work in terms of rhythm and rhyming, which means Jesus teachings were likely to be passed on generation to generation.”
Many of the obligations and customs of Jesus’ time make more sense to Muslims in the Arabian Gulf than they would to western Christians, in particular his role in the family as the first-born son.
“The first-born son carries a heavy burden,” says Mr Thompson. “He takes on the mantle and the role of the father, with all sorts of theological permutations there.”
He refers to the biblical account of the crucifixion: “Right up to his last moments, when he tells his disciples ‘look after my mother,’ and made sure Mary was provided for; his duty as the first-born son.”
Other stories from the New Testament either take on new significance or can be completely reinterpreted when viewed from an Arab cultural perspective.
“For example, when you go into a majlis, the most important person sits on the right hand of the sheikh, the next most important person sits on the left hand of the sheikh and so it goes all the way round the room,” says Mr Thompson. “At least that’s the theory.”
“And when Jesus is teaching about a banquet, he is saying ‘don’t assume you are the most important person in the room who will automatically sit on the right hand of the host’ and he teaches humility to his disciples.
“Today, we talk about Jesus sitting on the right hand of the Father as a place of honour and that makes sense to an Arab”
He likes also to tell a story from the Gospel of Luke, of Zaccheus, a tax collector from Jericho who climbs a tree to watch Jesus arriving in the town. “Jesus says to him, I’m going to your house, come down.”
“Most western Christians read the shocking element as Jesus associating with a tax collector, a hated collaborator with the Roman emperor.” A friend of his, though, says Mr Thompson, read the same story with a group of Omani Muslims as part of an interfaith dialogue initiative.
“The Omani Muslim Arabs’ response was: ‘How rude. He invited himself to another man’s house without waiting to be invited.’ They said even the Sultan of Oman would not go into another man’s house unless he is invited first.
“The only person who has that prerogative would be God himself, they added. And then they stopped when they realised the import of what they were saying. It was a cultural insight I would never have seen.”
This lack of insight from both faiths is something that concerns Mr Thompson. “I wrote this book because I was increasing concerned with the growing gap between Christianity and Islam; the acts of terrorism and the Islamophobic response in the West.
“There is massive ignorance or fear in the West about Islam, so I’m trying to write a book which bridges the gap; Where I am saying to westerners that the people of the Gulf have far more in common with Jesus than we realise. And I am saying to Muslims, the Jesus of the Bible, he is one of you.”
There are, of course, fundamental differences between the perception of Jesus in Islam, as a prophet, and in Christianity as the Son of God.
“My kindest Muslim friends say to me ‘Andy, you’re just one prophet short. One more prophet and you are home and dry’,” he jokes.
But as a Christian priest: “I cannot see past the one prophet who laid his life down for me. As much as I respect the incredible accomplishments of the Prophet Mohammed, at the end of the day as a Christian I am moved by his [Jesus] sacrifice for me.”
Better understanding between the faiths can be achieved by looking for similarities rather than differences, he believes. “As Christians we have no problems in identifying Moses being a prophet. He spoke about God, he united his people under religious law, but a lot of Christians have difficulty in recognising Mohammed as a prophet. And sometimes when a Christian says to me that Mohammed is a false prophet, that he is not pointing the way to the same God, I say to them what’s the difference between him and Moses? When you look at their beliefs about God they are remarkably similar.
“God is the creator of the Heavens and the Earth. God has revealed his will through the prophets and through scriptures and through divine law. Tell me what’s the difference?
“The problem with Christians, of course, is that we look at prophets as pointing the way to Jesus. But I think there is a way of reading the Quran.
“You can say it does point to Jesus. Jesus is mentioned more times in the Quran than any other prophet, including the Prophet Mohammed himself. Jesus is described in the Quran as the word from God, the spirit from God.
“If you read the text for itself, and there is a way, in fact many ways, in which the Quran honours Jesus very significantly.”
Jesus of Arabia carries an introduction by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, in which he expresses hope that the book can be the basis for interfaith dialogue, in particular the joint reading of scriptures like the Quran and the Bible.
This is also something Mr Thompson hopes will happen in time. “I am challenging Muslims to read the scriptures with us and tell us what you see from your Islamic perspective, but I’m also challenging Christians to read the Quran and to feedback to Muslims what they see.
“We need to have this discussion more than ever before, The opposite of dialogue is no dialogue and where there is no dialogue, ignorance prospers and fear flourishes.”
Cultural fiesta
What: The Al Burda Festival
When: November 14 (from 10am)
Where: Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi
The Al Burda Festival is a celebration of Islamic art and culture, featuring talks, performances and exhibitions. Organised by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, this one-day event opens with a session on the future of Islamic art. With this in mind, it is followed by a number of workshops and “masterclass” sessions in everything from calligraphy and typography to geometry and the origins of Islamic design. There will also be discussions on subjects including ‘Who is the Audience for Islamic Art?’ and ‘New Markets for Islamic Design.’ A live performance from Kuwaiti guitarist Yousif Yaseen should be one of the highlights of the day.
Founder: Ayman Badawi
Date started: Test product September 2016, paid launch January 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software
Size: Seven employees
Funding: $170,000 in angel investment
Funders: friends
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THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The five pillars of Islam
Ain Issa camp:
- Established in 2016
- Houses 13,309 people, 2,092 families, 62 per cent children
- Of the adult population, 49 per cent men, 51 per cent women (not including foreigners annexe)
- Most from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa
- 950 foreigners linked to ISIS and their families
- NGO Blumont runs camp management for the UN
- One of the nine official (UN recognised) camps in the region
More on Yemen's civil war
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
Unresolved crisis
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Villains
Queens of the Stone Age
Matador
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000
On sale: now
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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MATCH INFO
Europa League semi-final, second leg
Atletico Madrid (1) v Arsenal (1)
Where: Wanda Metropolitano
When: Thursday, kick-off 10.45pm
Live: On BeIN Sports HD
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Killing of Qassem Suleimani